Dragon Nest has been on my radar for well over a year. It was introduced about the same time as Dragonica, both touting action play, but Dragonica has already come out while Dragon Nest has continued its development. This is something to be thankful for, as Dragon Nestís battle system has become even more fleshed out, even more exciting. Dragonica tried to add a second dimension to its system and it didnít work out as well as it could have. Dragon Nest, on the other hand, is a fully three dimensional MMORPG.

The first thing we did during our Dragon Nest demo was two on two PvP action. While we never got a full experience going, either because of the interview being run, or the other team not being familiar with the controls, there was enough to see how working together was essential, especially once combos came into effect. The Archer had few nice skills for dealing out damage quickly, but the Sorceress was unrelenting against a slow or pinned opponent. Her spinning fireball special move did a 26 hit combo against a single target.

One complaint would be that combos are not explained. Even though itís prominent in all the battle video, thereís no reason given why combos are so important. Typical reasons could be more damage per hit, or higher accuracy, but none of these seem to be the case. Maybe this still needs to be implemented.

After the PvP sessions, two of us were shown a high level dungeon, or at least a short version of one. Each room had various collections of monsters, bats, spiders, beastmen. In addition, simple puzzles were in place, from killing the monsters, flipping switches, or hacking through obstacles. Most of these monsters were in place to help players learn the system, and were barely effective in doing any damage. In addition, traps were strewn all over the dungeon, but again, mostly as a concept. The boss battle at the end was more of a challenge, and it was rather enjoyable to use skills and dodging to try and mitigate damage taken.

There wasnít much shown regarding the story behind the game and the website for Dragon Nest mostly give background and a teaser of whatís to come, so your guess is as good as any. Going on action alone, this looks to be a fun, sexy, and exciting MMORPG where every class has a chance to get in on the action. Dragon Nest's closed beta starts soon, and the game is set to be released in North America this summer.